MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES, INNOVATION AND OPERATIONS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
None
Written exam at the end of the Course re: the topics discussed in Class and materials indicated (see reference books list). The final written exam is administered on paper and consists of 8 items re:
- seven questions focused on topics indicated in the Syllabus, where students are required to produce a short dissertation. The goal is to assess the student’s knowledge on the whole program;
- a short business case. Student are expected to focus on the problem analysis and to answer by providing a short text addressing the solution to the problem. The goal is to assess the ability to apply the concepts learned during the course through a simplified business case.
The exam lasts 90 minutes.
To succeed, students must obtain not less than 18 (eighteen) out of 30 (thirty). Specifically, the business case represents the 30% of the final grade, while questions the 70%. Students who obtain a total sum higher than 30 are entitled to pass the exam with honor (cum laude).
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Due to the recent pandemic crisis and related restrictions it could be possible that exams will be performed online. In this case, the details will be communicated through e-learning.
To navigate in the current competitive landscape, companies need to pay attention to innovation and emerging technologies. Innovation pervades the value chain of established companies, which very often are disrupted by new ventures with innovative value propositions. For all these reasons, companies - and managers and/or business analysts (on their behalf) – need to analyze real data to make their business decisions (re: technological advancements, innovation and operations management) to maintain their competitive advantage.
The course’s purpose is to make students understand the fundamentals of innovation, technology and operations management. The course also provides a comprehensive overview of strategic choices of firms in a double-fold perspective (i.e. both descriptive and problem-solving).
Key objectives are to provide students:
- the knowledge base to develop their skills in the managerial field;
- the managerial tools to understand how deal with innovation and operations management related-issues.
To reach these aims, the course has been conceived with a balanced mix of theory and practice (case study discussion in workgroups). Specifically, during workgroups, students have the opportunity to collaborate in problem solving, to address real managerial challenges.
At the end of the course, therefore, students have to prove:
- they have learned the business language, and can use properly the typical management terms/vocabulary;
- they have learned the models to represent innovation, technology and operations management;
- they can correctly use the managerial tools useful for technology and innovation management.
The course is conceived in English to allow students to experience a course taught in a foreign language and introduce them to the master’s degree programs.
The course aims to illustrate the role of innovation and technology in the current competitive landscape. The course also analyses operations management for manufacturing and service companies under a strategic and managerial point of view.
DETAILED PROGRAM (40 hours)
THE EVOLUTION OF MARKETS: INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, DIFFUSION, MARKET GROWTH (6 hours)
o Doing business nowadays: innovation, internationalization and entrepreneurship
o Globalization and competitive advantage
o Technology trends
o Diffusion of Innovation and new market creation
o Great challenges: frugal approaches to innovation and inclusive/social innovation
COMPETING IN TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETS (6 hours)
o Technology and company’s value chain
o Higher-order competencies and competitive advantage
o Innovation and technology in collaborative networks; knowledge brokers
CORPORATE INNOVATION AND INTRAPRENEURSHIP (14 hours)
o Concept definition - innovation along the years
o Typologies of innovation:
• radical vs incremental
• product/service vs process
• sustaining vs disruptive
o Different sources of innovation
o Innovation and competitive advantage
• Innovation and strategy
• First mover advantage
• Network effect
• Attacker’s advantage
o Ambidextrous organizations and intrapreneurial approaches
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT (14 hours)
o Operations strategy, introduction:
• Competitive dimensions
o Design of products and services
• New product development
• The Stage-gate process
o Production processes
• Typologies of production processes
• Classification and comparison of production processes
o Supply chain management
• Lean production
• Supply chain characteristics
• Make or buy? Outsourcing choices
• Global sourcing and mass customization
• Operations and globalization: new trends
BUSINESS CASES
Business case discussion and working groups re: the above-listed topics.
At the beginning of the course, the detailed program along with the schedule of the lessons will be published on the e-learning platform.
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- J. Tidd and J. Bessant, Managing Innovation, 5th Edition, 2014, Wiley & Sons - CAP 1, 2, 5, 9.
- M. Schilling, Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, 6th Edition, 2020, McGraw Hill - CAP 3, 5, 11.
- F.R. Jacobs and R.B. Chase, Operations and Supply Chain Management, 14th Global Edition, 2014, McGraw Hill - CAP 1, 2, 14, 16.
Additional readings to be communicated in class/uploaded on e-learning platform
Lectures, case discussion/workgroups, seminars
The instructor will be available at the end of each class as well as in office hours that will be communicated at the beginning of the course and will be indicated on the instructor’ personal pages, with periodical updates.
Professor's e-mail: alessia.pisoni@uninsubria.it